Sep 21, 2020 - at Lake Boondooma

Monday 21st Sept - at Lake Boondooma After a warmish night we had full cloud cover first up this morning but it soon cleared to a hot day although the constant light breeze makes it bearable if under shade. Morning tea was a riotous affair with the oldies sharing yarns and stories and finding out little snippets of info that we didn’t know before; like Brian who gets through about 200 books a year, wow!!! This morning we have seen two koalas in the tree beside the ‘morning tea’ shed (also camp kitchen). Looks like a mum with her not so...

Sep 20, 2020 - at Lake Boondooma

Sunday 20th Sept - at Lake Boondooma First up this morning Ron went over to the office to connect into the NBC Zoom prayer meeting - that was different - it’s normally quiet and peaceful in the study back home, but this time it was in the kiosk area where a dozen teenagers were on their phones, talking non-stop while the TV on the wall also was playing to an audience of NIL. I joined the meeting but left the audio muted for the half hour. The plan is to watch the NBC Live service tonight at 7:00. This morning dawned crystal clear with no...

Sep 19, 2020 - at Lake Boondooma

Sat 19th Sept - at Lake Boondooma So we woke to very little wind which was great. It was a cool night and Jan hadn’t slept well so it was about 8:30 when we awoke. Mind you there wasn’t too much activity around. Eating breakfast outside gave us a chance to chat to those who walked past. The NBC Salvos have booked out all the powered sites so the only ones around in this area are from our church. Eight of us got together for morning tea which was a lot of fun especially solving all the problems of the church, politics, Covid19 and in the...

Sep 18, 2020 - Barambah to Boondooma

Fri 18th Sept - Barambah to Lake Boondooma (20km NW of Proston) Another cool 10deg morning but we were snug under good blankets. Went to have a look at the two alpacas - not sure what they feed them but there’s not much grass in their paddock. On the way saw the park’s unique Dump Point which I guess also doubles as an emergency toilet if the loos are being cleaned and you are in a hurry. Not sure about the privacy issues. We left the park at 9:30 for the short trip to Murgon where we added to the rural economy (well somebody has to help...

Sep 17, 2020 - at Barambah (7km S of Murgon)

Thurs 17th Sept - at Barambah This morning we had some fog but it was cleared soon after we were up. 10degC last night and it would have been the same in the van so we weren’t rushing out of bed. Leisurely start to the day after joining the regular Zoom prayer meeting for NBC, and then about 10:30 we headed off to explore the walks that led out to lookouts on the edge of the property. There are several short walks and mountain-bike trails which are all marked with coloured arrows on the trees. we enjoyed the slow amble which was as fast as...

Sep 16, 2020 - Harlin to Barambah Bush Retreat

Wed 16th Sept - Harlin to Barambah Bush Retreat Time to move on again, but first a walking tour around the property to get a grasp of all that is entailed in being as self sufficient as possible. Ross has come a long way in the short time he’s been there, but there is still a long list of tasks to do. We must come back again and maybe get some exercise helping out. 12:30 and we are on the road again. Lunch at Moore, a favourite park we have used many times. Climb the long pull up to the town of Benarkin, on through Blackbutt and Yarraman....

Sep 15, 2020 - Home to Harlin (near Kilcoy)

Tues 15th Sept - home to Kilcoy The van was still safe and sound in the morning and we had it packed and were on the road at 10:45. Nice and early really, considering we only had a 2hr journey to our overnight stay. It was at a friend’s place just to the west of the Kilcoy township. But first we needed some lunch along the way so we stopped in Woodford under some shady trees to have a sanga and a cuppa with a few pages of a good book to help it go down. What a nice town and a great IGA. Jan was most impressed when she checked it out for...

Sep 14, 2020 - Last minute preparations

Mon 14th Sept - last minute preparations The most important prep is to go get the van. It's been feeling quite lonely out at Samford over the last few months, so it will be good to take the cover off, charge the battery, fill the water tank and get it on the road to Taigum so we can pack it. The new van cover which only covers the roof and its edges is working well. Half hr to Samford and back saw the van ready to pack by 10:30. But the necessity to keep an Apollo Choir practice and an Audiologist appt meant that nothing much could be done...

Sep 8, 2020 - Cunnamulla and St George

We spent a night at Cunnamulla and were greeted by the larger than life bronze statue of the Cunnamulla Fella which brings to life the Slim Dusty song which is a tribute to all the young teenage boys who worked on sheep and cattle stations from sun up to sun down mustering sheep and cattle and breaking in horses. It certainly is a great statue. The Council has also done an amazing job with the amazing exhibits and experiences at the Visitor Information Centre. We loved the artesian time tunnel experience. Like many of the small towns out...

Sep 5, 2020 - Wildflowers of the desert - once every ten years!

We drove on to the iconic Noccundra Hotel for the night. There isn't anything here except a beautiful old sandstone pub dating back to 1880s near the Wilson River and a free camping site. We paid $88 for the pleasure of sleeping in a donga and were almost eaten alive by the swarm of very thirsty mosquitos. Thank heavens we had a can of fly spray in our donga. At dinner we had a very interesting conversation with all our fellow travellers. The main topic was the various states' differing approaches to COVID-19. No one came to blows as we...

Sep 2, 2020 - The big smoke of Charleville - then some huge dinosaurs

We spent two nights at the heritage listed Hotel Corones in Charleville. It is a very grand old two storey building with a wide wraparound veranda. It is so popular they do daily tours! Surprisingly there was a lot to do in Charleville including visiting the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Cosmos Centre and observatory. There are also some rain vortex cannons in town which were a futile attempt to create rain. We saw the Rock Wallabies at the QLD Wildlife Service, it is always odd to see a Joey's leg protruding out of mum's pouch. We...

Aug 30, 2020 - Very outback Queensland - the Far west

Bedourie (pop 14) is an oasis in the desert and is located at the base of a sand dune surrounded by Eyre Creek. It is one of three towns in the Diamantina Shire, covering 95,000 square kilometres, where only 14 stations and 283 residents make up the vast area. It is twice the size of Denmark!!!!!! The helpful lady at the Visitor Information told us about the artesian spa in which the water comes from the Bedourie Artesian Bore drilled back in 1905. She didn't tell us it was very, very hot. Lucky that's how we like it. We had it to ourselves...